I feel for her, I really do. It sucks when somebody takes you personal statement of pride and principles and turns into their political agenda and whines about how it proves the world is being mean to them. She seriously needs to just slap a few people. HARD.

That’s pretty much my guess as well. She’s turning into more of a superman-equivalent than the old Atlas ever was. If Veles wants to keep the old tradition alive, she’d be perfect. It’s always been about “straightforward, honorable warrior-type vs. sneaky underhanded trickster” (interestingly, in the original myth, both sides were regarded as “good”), and she fits that first role perfectly.

She would make the descent new atlas/(superman) for this. It’s kind of funny seeing how much life threatening situations and crazed moments that they are forced to run through that makes them more grown up than they actually should be.

Veles’ relationship with the old Atlas seems to be more of a friendly rivalry without much malice; he also doesn’t seem to be interested in fighting anyone other than the old Atlas.

Now that Veles knows where the old Atlas is, I think he is going to Argos (to either help Atlas pacify Argos or simply to wreak havoc).
Even if he doesn’t get his nemesis back, he is at least going to relieve his boredom by going against Atlas-leveled FISS.

If you read the mythology on Veles and Perun, the battles aren’t about relieving boredom, but symbolic for the rhythms of the seasons. Veles is quite a pleasant figure for a deity of the underworld, really. ^^

I think Argos could use some turnign of the seasons. I kind of think Atlas being that far away is kind of extreme absentee parenting. Consequences for him leaving have been all bad for his son. (can’t imagine Clark doing that after how he reached out to Billy Batson)

Atlas being on Argos is in no way his fault though:
Dax-Ra had his son at the time, and is probably the main reason why he agreed to go to Argos. He got stranded on Argos after Moon Shadow and Ron escaped since interstellar travel without a spaceship doesn’t seem to be part of the FISS power-set.

If he does, I’m guessing he’ll discover it’s not one of his ‘better’ decisions, as Julie has shown she is not averse to reacting rather forcibly against anyone who seriously ticks her off. (As an example, I refer people to the fate of the gold-plated goon who broke her ‘Steel Wear’ cape back in Issue #29…)

Dax-Ra did acknowledge that Julie/84 could pass as a royal on Argos, which is exactly why she was appointed as Earth’s ambassador to that planet. I read that as an expert opinion placing her in the same league as Atlas, albeit a much younger version. Also, she seems to be instinctively taking command here, and that is further proven by the “Infinite Vanguard” (who all resemble Atlas in their power set) deferring to her. I’m thinking she’ll politely tell Veles off and he’ll decide that she is a worthy opponent for his annual sparring match.

Well that was pretty much the idea, the military didn’t want the replacement to be strong-willed, they wanted someone they could easily push around and manipulate. Just their bad luck that he’s actually not completely a drone and has decided to help make life better for all FISS by increasing their social status, since true heroes are notorious for telling governments and the military what they can go do with themselves when they try and get away with wrongdoing for any reason.

He may not be the hero they deserve, or the hero they need right now… or the hero they wanted, for that matter, but he’s the only Argosian they’ve got!
And his ability to be easily lead is a useful trait. For other people to exploit.

Let’s see, Veles is a god of cattle while Perun was a god of rain. There might be a farmer vs. rancher thing between them. Wouldn’t some hero with weather control powers be a more appropriate ritual antagonist, like say the janitor at PS238 formerly known as Rainmaker.